À̹ÌÁö È®´ë The Hoam Foundation, a non-profit organization under Samsung Group, said on Tuesday it will reorganize the existing Hoam Science Awards by separating them into the physics/mathematics category and chemistry/life science starting next year to encourage research and expand support in the basic science field.
As a result, the Hoam Prize will be classified into five categories from four next year: Science Award (Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry and Life Sciences), Engineering Award, Medicine Award, Arts Award, and Social Service Award.
The total prize money will increase by 300 million won ($250,000) from 1.5 billion won to 1.8 billion won with winners in each category receiving a prize of 300 million won in addition to a certificate and a medal.
The Hoam Prize established in 1990 by Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee to honor Samsung Group founder Lee Byung-chul¡¯s talent-first philosophy has so far been awarded to 152 winners with 27.1 billion won in prizes over the past 30 years.
The reorganization of the Hoam Prize was first proposed by Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Jay Y. Lee to help boost the national competitiveness by expanding support for basic science fields, a Samsung official said.
Since 2013, Samsung Electronics has separately supported the basic science field through its own projects for future technology promotion, providing a total of 771.3 billion won for 601 research projects in addition to its over 100 billion won investment in industry-academia cooperation projects.
By Kim Gyu-sik, Hwang Soon-min and Minu Kim
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